From 1971 to 1977 the Environmental Protection Agency hired freelance photographers for a project called “Documerica.” The goal was to capture photographs relating to the environment, including everyday life. More than 15,000 photos from the project now reside in the National Archives.

David Hiser was one of the photographers the EPA hired, recommended by the director of photography at National Geographic, where Hiser had done some work. His photographic career started at a newspaper in Aspen, Colorado.

“In those days you didn’t go to school to become a photojournalist,” he told CNN in 2012. “You got on with a small newspaper and sort of went from there.”

Aspen, even in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, had plenty of hustle and bustle – the comings and goings of celebrities, nightlife and sporting events. Hiser considers it “a very good grounding as a journalist to work there for two years.”